317 lines
10 KiB
YAML
317 lines
10 KiB
YAML
abstract: 'Objectives
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Cooperatives whose activity is undertaken in the field of education need
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to optimize their management to survive and achieve competitive
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advantage. As they are labor-intensive organizations that provide
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services with high intangibility (transformation knowledge,
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characteristics and individuals'' behavior), their staff''s job
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satisfaction is one way of achieving these advantages (reputation,
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strategic positioning, attracting talented employees, etc.). Therefore,
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the objective of this paper is to analyze how education cooperatives can
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achieve job satisfaction through certain human resources management
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practices (work-life balance culture and availability of work-life
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balance practices, hiring, training, performance assessment and
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compensation). The gender perspective is also considered in the
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analysis.
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Methodology
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An empirical study conducted with the data obtained from a sample of 101
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teachers from education cooperatives in the Murcia Region (Spain) (5\%
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response rate). Data were collected by a personal survey that included
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measures used in previous studies. They were all assessed with a 7-point
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Likert scale (1: totally disagree, and 7: totally agree) according to
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teachers'' perception of the different variables.
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Teachers'' job satisfaction, measured according to: professional
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satisfaction (with the school and learning activities), satisfaction
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with student achievement, teachers'' experience in the educational
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center, and treatment received by the center.
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Work-life balance culture, divided into positive and negative
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perspectives. The positive one includes: talking about personal life at
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work, starting a family -expecting a child or adopting it-, leaving the
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workplace to care for children or dependent family members, and
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prolonging maternity/paternity leave. The negative work-life balance
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culture includes: maintaining a family structure that requires a lot of
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involvement, spending many hours at work on a daily basis, taking work
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home regularly, and prioritizing work over private life.
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Work-life balance practices, with measures adapted to the context
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(education cooperatives) to specifically ask about a reduced working day
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with a cut in salary, maternity/paternity leave longer than the legal
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minimum, leave of absence to care for either sick or dependent family
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members or sick or dependent children.
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Hiring, assessed according to teachers'' perception of if: recruiting
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processes that are rigorous and formalized, teachers'' continuity is
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high, and appropriate teachers are hired at each school level.
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The variable training, measured by considering if training actions are
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carried out according to the teaching staff''s needs, training plans are
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tailored to the teaching staff, and the training suggestions made by the
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teaching staff are taken into account.
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Performance assessment, to consider if the objectives to be met are
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communicated to those responsible for achieving them, the performance
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and development of each teacher''s activity are evaluated, and if the
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evaluation of teachers'' performance is adequate.
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Finally, the variable compensation includes the perception of whether
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the performance evaluation is linked to the salary paid, the salary paid
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is independent of the teaching staff''s performance, and salaries are at
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similar to those paid to public school teachers.
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The descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations of the variables
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are included, as is a hierarchical linear regression model to test the
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hypotheses. The general model obtained with all the sample data is also
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analyzed by taking into account gender as a selection variable.
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Results
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The study results reveal that adequate training (beta=.478) and rigorous
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formalized hiring (beta=.336) are the most valued factors to generate
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job satisfaction among teachers of education cooperatives in the Murcia
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Region. However, some gender differences appear in the variables that
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generate job satisfaction, despite there being no significant
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differences between male and female teachers'' perception of their job
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satisfaction.
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In particular, male teachers (31\% of the sample) negatively perceive
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the effect of availability of work-life balance practices (beta=-. 238)
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and compensation (beta=-. 374) on their job satisfaction, while training
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has a positive impact (beta=.706). These variables explain 52.6\% of the
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male teachers'' job satisfaction variation. For the female teachers (69\%
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of the sample), hiring (beta=.440), training (beta=.345) and work-life
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balance practices (beta=.233) have a positive effect on their perceived
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job satisfaction, and explain 63.8\% of the variation in their job
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satisfaction.
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From these gender results, the most striking aspect is that the greater
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availability of work-life balance practices and linking pay to
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performance reduce male teachers'' job satisfaction. One explanation
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could be that males consider that work-life balance practices only
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benefit women, and when female teachers use these measures, male
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teachers must face a heavier workload, which affects their level of
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satisfaction. The negative relationship between satisfaction and
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performance assessment may be a consequence of the service type
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(training), and the possible uncertainty and mistrust that a performance
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measure can generate because the methods to determine it are not the
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most suitable ones, or do not reflect all the work they do to perform
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their teaching activity.
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Females differ for the idea that hiring and work-life balance practices
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are a key influence on their job satisfaction. Perhaps the females in
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the Spanish studied region still assume the reproduction and care role
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of the family to a greater extent, and the tools that support their
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labor participation, such as work-life balance practices, possibly have
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a positive effect on their perceived satisfaction. Additionally, hiring
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is the most important factor that generates job satisfaction among
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females. Rigorous formalized processes where the most appropriate
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candidates are hired, with a high probability of continuity, are well
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assessed by females as a way to assure gender equality and to banish
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certain gender stereotypes, occupational segregation (horizontal and
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vertical) and the glass ceiling.
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In any case, both males and females agree that training is essential for
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their job satisfaction, perhaps because this will improve the education
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service that they provide, as well as their students performing better.
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Practical conclusions and original value
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This work offers guidelines to education cooperatives about the aspects
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that create more job satisfaction, and how to manage and optimize it
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according to each employee''s gender.
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This work shows some gender differences among teachers of educational
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cooperatives in relation to the variables that generate their job
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satisfaction. These differences must be carefully analyzed by the
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management of cooperatives in an attempt to develop those human resource
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management policies and strategies that tend to favor high job
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satisfaction among male and female teachers given its effect on other
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variables, e.g. performance (better service provision, perception of
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higher quality), productivity or the cooperative''s outcomes (attracting
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new customers, better internal and external reputation, etc.).
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In general, education cooperatives can increase job satisfaction by
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mainly offering a training program suited to teachers'' needs that can be
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put into practice, if possible, in their working hours, and that does
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not require travel, to avoid work-life conflict problems. This should be
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complemented with formalized rigorous hiring processes that ensure
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having highly trained motivated staff. The different perception of
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work-life practices between males and females shows a clear need for
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more training and awareness about work-life balance issues and
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co-responsibility. Educational cooperatives should put the necessary
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resources (hiring temporary staff to cover possible reductions in days,
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leave, or absence) so teachers'' satisfaction (and productivity) does not
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disturb those situations.
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The importance of education cooperatives, together with their
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labor-intensive character and the absence of studies that analyze the
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problems addressed herein, justify their relevance from both the
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academic and business points of view.'
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affiliation: 'Martinez-Leon, I (Corresponding Author), Univ Politecn Cartagena UPCT,
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Cartagena, Spain.
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Martinez-Leon, Inocencia, Univ Politecn Cartagena UPCT, Cartagena, Spain.
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Olmedo-Cifuentes, Isabel; Arcas-Lario, Narciso, UPCT, Cartagena, Spain.'
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author: Martinez-Leon, Inocencia and Olmedo-Cifuentes, Isabel and Arcas-Lario, Narciso
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and Zapata-Conesa, Juan
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author-email: 'ino.martinez@upct.es
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isabel.olmedo@upct.es
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arcas.lario@upct.es
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juanzapataconesa@gmail.com'
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author_list:
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- family: Martinez-Leon
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given: Inocencia
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- family: Olmedo-Cifuentes
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given: Isabel
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- family: Arcas-Lario
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given: Narciso
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- family: Zapata-Conesa
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given: Juan
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da: '2023-09-28'
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doi: 10.7203/CIRIEC-E.94.12700
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eissn: 1989-6816
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files: []
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issn: 0213-8093
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journal: CIRIEC-ESPANA REVISTA DE ECONOMIA PUBLICA SOCIAL Y COOPERATIVA
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keywords: 'Cooperatives in education; teaching staff; gender; job satisfaction;
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work-life balance; human resources management'
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keywords-plus: 'WORK-LIFE BALANCE; FAMILY CONFLICT; TURNOVER; ATTITUDES; OUTCOMES;
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WOMEN; VALIDATION; MANAGEMENT; RETENTION; KNOWLEDGE'
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language: Spanish
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month: DEC
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number-of-cited-references: '87'
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orcid-numbers: 'Martínez-León, Inocencia M IML/0000-0002-8624-9848
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'
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pages: 31-60
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papis_id: 97d8d9e8413cd66e94f1cc27d37b6345
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ref: Martinezleon2018cooperativeseducatio
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researcherid-numbers: 'Martínez-León, Inocencia M IML/H-8391-2015
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OLMEDO-CIFUENTES, ISABEL/AAH-8638-2019'
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times-cited: '4'
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title: 'Cooperatives in Education: Teacher Job Satisfaction and Gender Differences'
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type: article
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unique-id: WOS:000455955600003
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usage-count-last-180-days: '4'
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usage-count-since-2013: '62'
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volume: '94'
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web-of-science-categories: Economics
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year: '2018'
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